The Chicago White Sox won on MLB Opening Day to spoil the party for the World Series Champion Houston Astros. But one White Sox slugger put himself in a bind after appearing to make a baserunning blunder.
White Sox third baseman Yoán Moncada went hard around the bases just before catcher Yasmani Grandal tied the game with a solo home run. Had Moncada stopped at second, if Grandal still hit a home run, the White Sox would have gained an advantage. Fans weren’t thrilled at first, but Pedro Grifol, who made his MLB managerial debut, put everyone at ease with a surprising, fresh take on the baserunning snafu.
James Fegan, who covers the Sox for The Athletic, tweeted Grifol’s response to the “blunder” by Moncada. The surprising thing about it? He was totally cool with it.
“What I don’t want is not to play fearless baseball,” Grifol bluntly said. “That’s what I told him. (Third base coach) Eddie (Rodríguez) spoke to him, (Moncada) saw a few things that he felt were enough keys for him to try to get to third base. And we’re OK with that.
“We’re OK with it. It’s aggressive baseball,” Grifol said. “Run hard out of the box. We’re all right with that. I know fundamentally people think you can’t make the first or third out at third base., I don’t believe it. I believe in making good decisions and having a reason why you do it. And he had a couple of good reasons, so I’m OK with it.”
Pedro Grifol on Yoán Moncada trying to take three bases on his ball into the right field corner last night in the eighth inning. pic.twitter.com/zeFPgg3oXM
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) March 31, 2023
This refreshing take on things has made him a hit with White Sox fans already.
This is actually a good response so I can take this answer
— Jimmy (@FlynnJimmy__) March 31, 2023
Love the answer. Was skeptical when it initially happened but if he felt he could’ve made it I’m fine with the call. https://t.co/wuoW0u2yvW
— Kuffdad (@kuffdad7) March 31, 2023
I'm officially a Pedro Grifol guy. https://t.co/CPVcg7NWBQ
— Josh Nelson – Sox Machine (@soxmachine_josh) March 31, 2023
By the way, this is what they were missing last year.
You say the right things even when there was a mistake.
Now the story is wrapped instead of being discussed by everyone for a week. https://t.co/KTgtaWfgof
— BK (@TheBennettK) March 31, 2023
Was massively critical of Moncada for this last night, but very much like Grifol's reasoning here. #WhiteSox https://t.co/rpTZ8TUzwP
— Ben Saunders (@BSaundersSport) March 31, 2023
